2011 The Year Social Media Earns Its Keep

According to a recent survey by Austin, Texas – based Bazaarvoice, many large-enterprise marketers believe that this may indeed be the year that the connection between online social marketing and a realized Return On Investment (ROI) becomes evident and measurable.

According to their report, an impressive 74% of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) believe that they will finally tie social campaigns and efforts to harden ROI this year. The survey polled nearly 200 top U.S. CMOs including marketing chiefs from B2C and B2B companies in an array of industries.

As recent as 2009, 84% of companies did not even measure social media ROI — in 2011, that’s clearly not an option. Good business decisions are best made when they are based on hard numbers that measure success. It appears that social media efforts are no longer an exception and will be held to the same standards of accountability as other forms of media going forward. Site traffic tops the list as the most important factor for measuring social media ROI.